Framing the affirmative-action debate: Attitudes toward out-group members and white identity

The present study investigated whether the packages that White Americans use to describe affirmative action (AA) are associated with attitudes toward out-group members and White racial identity. Packages are ideas that organize a series of events and were content-coded from students' (N = 176) written opinions on AA (Gamson & Modigliani, 1987). Use of the remedial action and no preferential treatment packages were virtually unrelated to out-group and White racial identity attitudes. However, use of the delicate balance package was associated with modern racism, social dominance orientation, comfort interacting with African Americans, and certain aspects of White racial identity. These data suggest that many of the White Americans who advocate equality without sacrificing individual rights may find this position to be a compelling way to make sense of the AA controversy and that this position tends to accompany endorsement of egalitarian views, comfort with African Americans, and highly developed White racial identities.